Treatment of the Elderly in the Regional Surgical Department

Overview

A retrospective study of health problems among patients aged 80 and over was performed in the in-patient Department of Surgery, Karviná Hospital, since 2005 to 2007. A total of 624 patients were hospitalized during the period under study, 174 males and 450 females, the M:F ratio being 1 to 2.6. Most hospital stays were categorized as acute – 583 (i.e., 80.3%). A total of 295 operations (i.e., 40.6%) have been performed. The two major reasons for hospitalization were: 1) The most frequent reasons for hospital admissions and treatment were as follows: unexplained abdominal pain – 60 cases, cholecystopathy – 48 cases, hematemesis or melena – 43 cases, abdominal hernias – 29 cases, vomiting – 26 cases, intestinal passage impairments – 24 cases, diarrhoea – 17 cases. 2). Injuries – 274 cases (i.e., 37.7%), of which 121 cases presented with the primarily treated diagnosis of proximal femoral neck fracture (44.2 % of all injuries). There were 35 cases (i.e., 4.8%) presenting with impairments of lower extremity arterial blood supply. Interestingly, the proportion of ‘surgical’ malignant tumours in this age group has been found relatively low: only 61 cases in the span of 3 years, 27 of the cases being colorectal carcinomas. Other reasons for hospital treatment were less common. There were only 34 social hospitalizations (4.7%). 295 patients have undergone operations (40.6%). 53 patients died, mostly as a result of circulatory failure. Of those 53, 16 patients had undergone surgical procedures (9 abdominal surgeries and 5 above-knee amputations). The present article discusses, among other issues, the nursing problems of caring for aged persons when there is a large amount of behavioural disorders due to advanced vascular dementia.

Key words:
elderly patients aged 80 and over – in-patient care – limb injury – abdominal surgical conditions in the elderly – vascular dementia